In Search of the Old Paths

Old Testament Reading – Genesis 12:1-9, 15:1-5
New Testament Reading –Ephesians 2:4-13, 1 Peter 2:9-10

In Search of Old Paths
“I Believe in the Holy Christian Church”
Ephesians 2:19-22

Wayne J. Edwards, Pastor

   The Apostles’ Creed is a foundational statement of Christian belief.

• While the Creed was not written by the apostles themselves, its statements were derived from their teachings and writings.
• The current form of the Creed evolved in the 2^nd century from “the Old Roman Creed,” which was used to instruct converts and as a confession of faith when they were baptized. The current Creed reached its final form around the 8^th
• After outlining one’s faith in God, the Father, the incarnation and passion of Jesus Christ, and the role of the Holy Spirit, the writers of the Creed turned their focus upon the Church and the promise of everlasting life.

   The ninth statement in the Apostle Creed reads: “I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints.”

• The fact that the word “catholic” is written a little “c” means that the word itself does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church.
  • The word “catholic” simply means “universal,” or “worldwide.”
  • The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ transcends time, culture, location, denominational labels, etc.
  • Despite the many doctrinal differences and forms of worship, all Christians belong to one unified, global body of believers, the Body of Christ, of which He alone is Head.
• The word “holy” means to be “set apart,” as unto the Lord.
• The word “church” means the collective “Body of Believers,” to which Peter refers as “living stones,” embedded into the Rock of Ages by their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.
  • The Greek word for “church” is “ekklesia,” which comes from two other Greek words: “EK,” which means “out of,” and “Kaleo,” which means “to call.”
  • The “ekklesia” refers to the assembly of those who have been called out of the world and put into the family of God.

• The word “church” does not mean “denomination.” There are 45,000 Christian denominations in the world, and over 4,000 churches in America, and while millions of people may be involved in those religious organizations, to be saved, one must be assembled into the True Church: The Body of Christ.

1. God’s Plan of Salvation Has Always Been to Call Out a People Unto Himself – Ephesians 2:19-22 – “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

• God’s saving purposes have always had a corporate dimension.
• God is out to save a people, a family, and a body, a Church.
• While no one is saved by being in the visible church, those who are saved are saved into the Church invisible, or they aren’t saved at all.
• We are saved into a body, a building, a temple, a dwelling place, a Church; the assembly of the called out and saved.
• We have a family – level connection with our brothers and sisters in Christ who have also been saved by grace alone.
• The believers in Ephesus were Gentiles, but Paul wanted them to know that they were not second-class-Christians; that it was God’s plan to redeem a people for Himself, through whom He could reveal Himself to the unredeemed, and that group would include people of every tongue, tribe, and nation on earth.
• God’s plan of salvation was not only to bring sinners into a right relationship with Him through their faith in Jesus Christ, but to bring those He saved into a right relationship with one another, as the evidence of their new relationship with the Lord. God intends His Church to be a display of His glory.
• Therefore, when Christians, from different backgrounds; people who have nothing else in common with one another, are able to live in harmony, love one another, care for one another, serve one another, and worship and work together to build up the kingdom of God, not only do they glorify the Lord who saved them, but they show the world God’s power to save.
• The Church is a covenant community; a people who have been graciously called into a relationship with God, and bound in a loving relationship with every other believer. To be saved is to belong to the family of God.

2. God’s Plan of Salvation Has Always Been to Call His People to Holiness – 1 Peter 1:13-16 – “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

• The Church has been made holy by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
• However, in Hebrews 12:14, the writer said those who have been made holy must “Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.”
• Moral purity and consecration to God are required to enter into God’s presence, to avoid His discipline, and to receive His eternal blessings. Therefore, the essential evidence of salvation is the relentless pursuit of holiness – the goal to measure up to that which God has declared.
• For the last 30 years, churches have been told to relax their standards of holiness to become more friendly toward the lost and unchurched. However, by becoming like the world, the church has lost its influence in the world, and the level of evangelism is at an all-time low.

3. God’s Plan of Salvation Has Always Been for His People to Love One Another – John 13:34-35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

• A true, born-again Christian will love their brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless of their differences in life. Love transcends those differences. In fact, love even cancels those differences.
• If God has shed His love in our hearts, we cannot help but love those He loves, and with the same level of love He has given to us! It’s that simple!

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8